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Rock Art in the Oukaïmeden Valley

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2021

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to African rock art in the Oukaïmeden Valley situated in the central part of the High Atlas in Morocco. The paper focuses on particular archaeological locations, art techniques applied, style characteristics and other specificities of the local rock art.

Special attention is paid to the motifs, developmental changes and dating of rock art in the Oukaïmeden Valley. Rock art first appeared in the valley in the Late Neolithic, it went on to evolve in the Late Bronze Age and persisted until the Libyan-Berber Period.

The paper also offers interpretation of rock art motifs including the analysis of the function and purpose of their placement in the landscape. In this context, the paper describes the close relation between rock art and transhumance that has persisted in the High Atlas up to the present.

That is the reason why the text includes description and interpretation of rock art in the Oukaïmeden Valley with emphasis on the seasonal use of mountain pastures by Berber herders.